And so I return with another chapter. That's two in less than a week. My sudden return has got me pumped and I'm churning out chapters like crazy. I've been writing chapters for five different fanfics; three of which I'm debating on publishing soon. Do you guys think I should one or two of them soon? I really wanna publish my SolfJ Kimblee fic or my Throttle fic. Cookies to anyone that knows what cartoon Throttle is from.

This chapter is a little different to usual. Usually I would go right the way through the manga chapter. I didn't this time.

That can be blamed on my utter laziness. I started writing and got to about two pages of handwritten notes before headdesking and spending like an hour on Tumblr... My motivation to write canon moments in this chapter went down the crapper so I tried to keep it to a minimum. I promise next time that the chapter will be longer and have more content in it. And if I don't deliver, you can all murder me and dance on my grave or something...

So without further adieu, the chapter~

Shiroijijo
Black Butler

Chapter XXIV: His Bonded; Shadowing

"Your colour has returned."

Sebastian looked much better now than he did the night previous. Our hunting trip had been a very good idea. His cheeks were flushed a healthier shade of pink than before; his hair had lost that dull greyness to it; even the little sparkle had returned to his wine coloured eyes.

The man's gaze raised from his current task of ironing out the pages of Little Ciel's morning newspaper. "At least one of us feels that last night was a good decision. My stomach is rolling. Those souls tasted terrible."

I gave a little roll of my eyes, letting the comment pass over my head this time. He had eaten. That was all that mattered. He could complain about the taste of the souls as much as he wanted now he was looking healthier in himself. "They suited your taste well enough to be edible. We weren't looking for a gourmet meal, just something to sate ourselves for a little while. Your Young Master's soul will taste perfectly well in the event that you do reap it."

"It is yet to mature," was his simple answer to the demand that I didn't verbalise.

Though I had been pulled onto this bandwagon of training Little Ciel's soul to a maturity worthy of being called the ambrosia of souls I believed that this adventure was well overdue a satisfying end.

I was not like Sebastian. I was quite content to feed off the untrained souls of people that I found off the streets. I felt that this endeavour with Ciel was dragging on. It was long and pointless (if slightly amusing at times).

My wish was to return to the Rings. I missed my homelands. It had really only been a short while since I had last been home but I missed it greatly. I missed the moon-bleached trees and the soft sand beneath my feet and the feeling of other Demonic presences lingering at the edge of my consciousness.

It was Xavier and Naomahan, I realised after a long moment of thought, that had caused this home sickness. Feeling their presences had made me think of home.

"I believe it is time to wake the Young Master. Come, Demoness."

My eyes focussed on him for a moment before my mind registered what he had said. "Of course," I answered absently. I righted the skirts of my dress, eyelashes fluttering a little as I blinked away the hazy thoughts of home.

A sting ran through me. It had been a while since he had called me Demoness. What had caused him to revert to the old name usage?

The day was largely uneventful; filled with little more than my daily chores and entertaining the mansion's company to keep them out of Little Ciel and Sebastian's hair.

It wasn't until after dark that the fun began.

"Fetch the Young Master's coat, love," Sebastian ordered as he passed me in the hall, heading towards the servants quarters. Presumably to infomr the others of our depature for the evening.

He'd returned to calling me love.

I tried to ignore the little flutter in my chest as my eyes followed his back until he turned the corner. "They've left already?" I hadn't expected Agni and Prince Soma to leave quite so early. The sun had just set.

"We'll be accompanied by Lau tonight. Do keep your state of dress. It would be quite inappropriate for you to be dressed in your usual attire of these circumstances with his company."

My lips pursed a little. I would have to wear my dress while we were out investigating? What a pain. I enjoyed our little investigations because I got the freedom of wardrobe. I got to wear what I found comfortable.

My uplifted mood dropped a little as I glided down the hallway to carry out Sebastian's order.

We followed the two Indian men as subtly as was possible with two humans at our tails slowing us down and creating more noise than was necessary.

With each passing venue the two visited it became more and more obvious that the two were doing nothing more than searching for the girl that they said they had been. Their intentions weren't as dark as Ciel had believed they were.

Not at face value, at least.

Our return to the mansion was followed up by a spot of tea in Little Ciel's office room as Agni and Prince Soma returned and the latter was settled into bed.

"Little Ciel is getting tired, Sebastian. He cannot stand much more sitting around." The subject of my silent conversation with my partner was currently sat at his desk, looking almost dead in his sleep as he tried to force himself to stay awake.

Not a moment later, Sebastian had swung down to stare at us through the window. "Young Master, he is on the move."

I pushed away from the wall to pick up Little Ciel's coat. He'd want to move out as soon as possible to stop himself from falling asleep.

"Wait!"

We all turned our attention to the source of the yell. Ah, my son had woken up. "You! Take me with you as well." Prince Soma looked so uncharacteristically serious that I paused in my task to listen wholeheartedly to what he had to say. "I was aware that Agni would sometimes go out after I'd gone to bed. I want to know what he's up to."

"I don't want three human's tagging along. It would slow us down too much. He should stay here."

Sebastian arched a fine brow as he turned his gaze down to me. "You want to keep him safe."

"I have no care for him," I denied a tad too quickly, a glare working its way into my eyes.

"He went into that building."

I crossed my arms over my chest, glaring at my dear husband's back. My wishes had been promptly ignored as Sebastian swept us all out of the mansion to follow behind Agni.

Ciel gave a small start as we stopped in front of a large mansion. "If memory serves, this is... I see. Now I'm starting to get the picture."

"What do you mean?" Prince Soma demanded.

"Why is he here?" I demanded myself in much the same way as my son had, the glare darkening on my face.

"He knows Agni better than any of us. It was logical to bring him along."

My cheeks puffed out a little. "Your sudden wish to be logical has nothing to do with my wish to leave Prince Soma at home where he can't cause any trouble?" I hedged with a quirk of my brow.

Sebastian gave a dazzling smile over his shoulder. That one gesture told me everything I needed to know.

Bastard.

And then he scooped Ciel up and jumped over the large wall in front of us. Form all the ways of avoiding a conversation I have seen, that was one of the most impressive, I had to admit.

Ciel exploded in a loud yell. "You idi-!"

I shook my head with an exasperated sigh. Why did I stay with these people? I didn't know how long my sanity would stay intact for with these people around me all the time.

To speed up the process of Prince Soma struggling to climb the wall, I picked him up myself and followed Sebastian over the wall with a strong leap.

Lau could make his own way over the wall.

I set Prince Soma on his feet and moved to stand at Sebastian's side, waiting for my next order. Perhaps I would get lucky and he would station me to stand guard outside. I had little interest in this.

My eyes flickered up to the loud growls of angry guard dogs approaching us. Wonderful. Something to put Sebastian in a bad mood. He hated dogs.

With a simple glare and releasing his aura, the dogs began to retreat with their tails between their legs, whimpering pathetically. Animals rarely liked our kind. Our auras unnerved them a lot.

"Heh," Sebastian chuckled, his voice filled with amusement. "What cowardly guard dogs Mister West keeps."

What cowardly dogs indeed.

"You wouldn't have been able to do that without feeding last night."

I was met with silence.

And so we find out that Demoness doesnt want to be here. Poor byy is home sick. Let's all take a moment to hug and pat her until she snaps and attacks us all.

Hope you all enjoyed the chapter.

Bee out, you guys. See you next chapter~